The quality of food the sheep receive is reflected in the quality of the lamb we produce.

The sheep on Topsy Farm seem to think the quality is excellent. Our partner, Don does most of the morning chores (and takes all of the great photos). Here are his pictures of morning chores in seasons when the grass does not grow.

He gives them 4 large round bales of hay first thing in the morning and then Christopher comes up and gives them some grain. So at first you can see the sheep content with their feed of hay..

..that is until Chris shows up when the flock does what flocks do best, and flock toward the ATV.

This escalates to a general swarming of 800+ ewes encasing it – loudly demanding their ration.

The end result is a long line of ewes feeding pretty noisily on their grain – no more calling… just molars crunching corn and soya beans.

The 5 dogs in the field have learned (the hard way) to keep well clear of the flock during this operation or they will be mercilessly trampled. At any other time, the dogs hold pre-eminence… dog wants to drink, the ewes gives it room… the dog wants to lie on this hay, the ewes eat somewhere else.  Not so with grain.

Readers, you will have to come to visit to get the audio.

Don Tubb does all the layout for the Amherst Island Beacon, a monthly newsletter published by our extended family for over 30 years. Ian and I were away when Don was working to deadline so this is when he wrote the above text.

All photos © Don Tubb 2012.